Legal Aid Department Annual Report 2016


	Chapter 5
	Publicity Programmes

	The Department is committed to ensure that no one who qualifies for legal aid is denied access to justice because of lack of means. Every year the Department organises or participates in various activities to enhance the public's awareness and knowledge of the legal aid services provided by the Department.

	Promotional Activities 2016 Law Week As in the past, the Department sponsored and participated in the organization of the annual territory-wide event Law Week 2016, which was launched by The Law Society of Hong Kong on 17 December 2016. The Opening Ceremony held at West Kowloon Cultural District was attended by the Chief Executive Mr C Y Leung; the Honourable Chief Justice Mr Justice Geoffrey Ma; the Secretary for Justice, Mr Rimsky Yuen SC; Legislative Council Member the Honourable Mr Dennis Kwok; the Chairman of Hong Kong Bar Association, Ms Winnie Tam; the President of The Law Society of Hong Kong, Mr Thomas So; the Chairman of Law Week 2016 Organizing Committee, Ms Ann Yeung and the Director of Legal Aid, Mr Thomas Kwong.



	Director of Legal Aid, Mr Thomas Kwong (second from right) officiated at the opening ceremony of Law Week 2016 at West Kowloon Cultural District on 17 December 2016. Also officiating at the opening ceremony were the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung (fourth from right); the Honourable Chief Justice Mr Justice Geoffrey Ma (third from left); the Secretary for Justice, Mr Rimsky Yuen SC (third from right); Legislative Council Member the Honourable Mr Dennis Kwok (second from left); the Chairman of Hong Kong Bar Association, Ms Winnie Tam (first right); the President of The Law Society of Hong Kong, Mr Thomas So (fourth from left); and the Chairman of Law Week 2016 Organizing Committee, Ms Ann Yeung (first left).

	Further, the Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel (Civil Litigation 1), Mr Steve Wong, took part in a 40-second roller feature carrying legal aid message in the show “Talker – Kids Talk” on ViuTV. The Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel (Crime), Ms Nancy Keung, also participated in a 3-minute talk warning the public of the improper touting activities of claims recovery agents in the programme “On a Clear Day” which was broadcast on Commercial Radio 1. In addition, Ms Keung took part in a 40-second mini segment promoting the services of legal aid which was broadcast on Commercial Radio 1 and 2.

	Promotion of Legal Aid Services through the media In November 2016, the Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel (Civil Litigation 1), Mr Steve Wong, participated in a radio programme – “Everyone’s Guide to Occupational Injuries” to offer advice to workers injured at work on how to apply for legal aid when necessary. The programme was jointly produced by Radio Television Hong Kong and the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims.



	The Director of Legal Aid, Mr Thomas Kwong, also conducted a two-episode interview on Metro Radio focusing on the work and services provided by the Department in the same month.

	Promotion of Legal Aid Services to Legal Practitioners The Department places great importance on working in partnership with the legal profession to deliver quality legal aid services to the public. To enhance the legal profession's understanding and knowledge of our services, the Director of Legal Aid, Mr Thomas Kwong, delivered a talk on the latest development in legal aid at a seminar organized by The LegCo Office of the Legislative Council Member Mr Dennis Kwok in December 2016.



	Promotion of Legal Aid Services to External Bodies/Organizations In 2016, we met with a number of counterpart organisations from overseas and the Mainland to exchange views on issues of common interest in legal aid work and spoke on the latest development of legal aid in Hong Kong. In January 2016, the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Application & Processing), Mr Chris Chong and the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Litigation), Ms Juliana OY Chan, met with Mr Wan Chun, Director of the Law and Policy Research Office, Supreme People’s Procuratorate, Mainland China to discuss the provision of legal aid services in Hong Kong.



	In January 2016, the Director of Legal Aid, Mr Thomas Kwong and the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Application & Processing), Mr Chris Chong, received Ambassador Huang Huikang, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of PRC to Malaysia to discuss and exchange views on judicial and legal system in Hong Kong.



	In February 2016, the Director of Legal Aid, Mr Thomas Kwong, the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Application & Processing), Mr Chris Chong, the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Policy and Administration), Ms Alice Chung and the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Litigation), Ms Juliana OY Chan, received a delegation led by Dr Wang Zhenmin, Director General of the Legal Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to discuss the latest development of legal aid in Hong Kong.



	In February 2016, the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Application & Processing), Mr Chris Chong and the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Litigation), Ms Juliana OY Chan met with Mr Xu Hong, Director-General of the Department of Treaty and Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC to exchange the views on the legal aid services in Hong Kong. In March 2016, the Director of Legal Aid, Mr Thomas Kwong, the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Policy and Administration), Ms Alice Chung and the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Litigation), Ms Juliana OY Chan received the Right Honourable Ms Beverley McLachlin, P.C., Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Canada, Canada to discuss and exchange views on the latest developments of legal aid services in Hong Kong. In March 2016, the Director of Legal Aid, Mr Thomas Kwong and the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Application & Processing), Mr Chris Chong met with Mr Shen Deyong, Executive Vice-President of the Supreme People’s Court, China to discuss the provision of legal aid services in Hong Kong. In December 2016, the Director of Legal Aid, Mr Thomas Kwong, the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Application & Processing), Mr Chris Chong and the Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Litigation), Ms Juliana OY Chan received Mr Liu Zhenyu, Vice Minister of Ministry of Justice, China and his delegation to discuss and exchange views on the provision of legal aid services in Hong Kong.

	The Department received the following delegations/groups in 2016:





	Please visit http://www.lad.gov.hk/eng/wnew/event.html for the details and photos of the events.

	Reaching out to the Community In March 2016, Legal Aid Counsel (Legal and Management Support), Miss Melody Chui, delivered a legal aid talk to members of Alliance of Self-help Groups for the Occupational Injuries and Diseases and staff from other organizations who are interested in Hong Kong’s legal aid system. Senior Legal Aid Counsel, Ms Ada Chau and Senior Legal Aid Counsel, Ms Janet Fung of Civil Litigation 2 introduced to frontline social workers of the Social Welfare Department and the Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association on the work and services of our Department relating to family issues including divorce, maintenance and custody in April and June 2016 respectively. In 2016, the Department joined the Post-secondary Students Summer Internship Programme, Sunnyway Programme, “Life Buddies” Mentoring Scheme, the CLAP for Youth @ JC Programme, the Pilot on Providing Career-related Experience for Non-Chinese Speaking Students in Secondary Schools organized by the Caritas Youth & Community Service's Mentorship Alliance and the Caritas Youth & Community Service's Mentorship Alliance of “Multicultural Dream Pursuit Project” (2016/17) with a view to strengthening career and life planning education for youths.

	Updating of Departmental Leaflets To inform members of the public the new opening hours arising from five-day week operation, leaflets of “How to apply Legal Aid in Civil Cases”, “How to apply Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme”, “Customer Service Standards” and “Information Leaflets on Legal Aid Services in Hong Kong in other languages” as well as the guide book on legal aid services in Hong Kong were updated. Leaflets on “Important Notice for Legally Aided Persons” series were also reprinted with the deletion of the paragraph on provision of “Drop-in Boxes” on Saturday mornings following the five-day week operation. Other publications such as the Financial Information Sheet, which contained comprehensive information on financial eligibility, deductible personal allowances, contributions payable by an aided person towards the costs of litigation and the Director's First Charge were also revised to reflect changes implemented in 2016. A list of publications of the Department is at Appendix 5.

	Updating of Departmental Video The TV documentary on Legal Aid Services produced in 2012 was updated to inform the public of new payment methods for making payments for contributions through bank automated teller machines or internet banking. It was shown at the Department's offices during office hours and was also uploaded onto the Department's website. The updated TV documentary in DVD format was also distributed to relevant departments and NGOs, public hospitals and public libraries for public viewing.

	Further Measures to Combat Improper Touting Activities As a measure to further combat improper touting activities of claims recovery agents among injured workers and accident victims, the Department continued to arrange the TV documentary on anti-touting activities produced by the Department of Justice to be broadcast in three waiting areas of the Department from 1 August 2016 to 31 July 2017, including Information & Application Services Unit (IASU) of Application & Processing Division and Crime Section of Litigation Division on 25/F of Queensway Government Offices; and IASU of Kowloon Branch Office on G/F, Mongkok Government Offices. The same TV API was also broadcast at 32 venues of the Home Affairs Department including the Home Affairs Enquiry Centre in Wan Chai District Office and 31 Community Halls/Community Centres in seven Districts for the same period.

	Website The Department regularly updates the contents of its website to provide comprehensive and timely information to the public and legal aid practitioners. In 2016, the Department continued enhancing the homepage to meet with the latest requirements of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.

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